PBSO: Man arrested after breaking into home near West Palm

A suburban West Palm Beach man who was caught at the scene of a house burglary insisted to Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies that he was innocent.

Roberto Montanez, 44, who was found at the scene of the break-in, sweating and bleeding from a cut on his arm, told the deputy that he was just there investigating the noise.

Why was he in the area? His girlfriend lives next door, he said, and he was “fixing a banana tree.” The deputy noted that Montanez had no dirt or foliage on his clothing.

What’s his girlfriend’s name? After a five- to seven-second pause, Montanez blurted out “Heather,” but the deputy said he seemed unsure of his answer. At first he said her last name was “Zacherman,” but he later changed it to “Tupperman.”

Where exactly does she live? At first he just pointed in a general direction, but when pressed he said she lives four houses down.

Had he ever been arrested? “No,” he said initially, adding “never for burglary.” The deputy wrote that he found this suspicious because he hadn’t mentioned anything about a burglary.

And why was him arm bleeding? He had shot up heroin and it caused him to bleed, he said, according to the report. The deputy noted that the cut was long rather than circular, which would indicate a needle.

The deputy wasn’t buying it.

Montanez had gotten into the house by smashing through a glass sliding door, the report said.

The home with the broken sliding door was missing a television and laptop and the electricity had been turned off to disable the alarm system. With the missing property and damage, the owner estimated the total loss would be about $2,800.

Montanez was then taken to Wellington Regional Medical Center when he complained of a sore hernia. At one point while in the hospital, Montanez slipped one arm out of his handcuffs and became combative with the deputy.

He faces charges of burglary, larceny, property damage and resisting arrest without violence. He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $6,000 bail.